Another time

So Call Of Duty has finally slipped from grace. I assume it’ll still end up being the second biggest game of the year, after FIFA 17, but the numbers show that it’s been far less successful than before. Even if that is a general trend this autumn.

There are two obvious solutions to the problem: take a rest like Assassin’s Creed and have a total reboot or just make sure the next one looks nothing like this one. Given how important eSports is to the series (not an issue for Assassin’s Creed), and the fact that Activision doesn’t really have any other games apart from Destiny, I’d be shocked if it took a break.

Which means a new setting. But what? The obvious options are: WWI, WWII, another recent war, the present day, or something really weird and fantastical. I’m ruling out near future as I don’t think they’re crazy enough to try that again, or anything else fantasy based. WWI would be seen as copying Battlefield, and although some may say WWII is the obvious one I think it’s just been done too many times – even if not recently.

Modern day is an option, and I can see them thinking that Modern Warfare 4 would be just the thing to pep up interest. But again it’s been done, especially after Modern Warfare Remastered. So my best guess is a war from somewhere between the 50s and the modern day. Korea or Vietnam perhaps, or perhaps Desert Storm. ‘90s nostalgia is big at the moment so I’d say that’s a pretty good guess: it’s different, still topical, and the weapons are still pretty modern.

What does everyone else think? Is it WWII or bust, or am I onto something?Grant

Fall in

Just wanted to write in to say how excellent Titanfall 2 is. I’m playing on PC and the community certainly isn’t dead like it’s been made out to be. Yes, the less popular modes don’t have many players, but it’s still possible to find a full lobby most of the time, just not as easily as the main (and best) modes, such as Attrition.

If anyone is on the fence due to fears of a dead community, go for it. It’s an amazing game, with incredible movement and really thrilling minute-to-minute gameplay. I don’t usually enjoy shooters, and have only really enjoyed Star Wars: Battlefront, but this game is phenomenal and I recommend 100% it to anyone thinking of picking it up.ar1speedboy

Two options

I have to agree that Black Friday is beginning to seem like a very bad influence on gaming. Personally I’ve never got that involved before, but seeing all these deals is crazy. There’s basically not a game out this year that cannot now be bought for £33. Even the ones that were successful like Battlefield 1 or just released, like Watch Dogs 2. That’s crazy.

I don’t have to guess really at how anyone feels that bought Watch Dogs 2 last week or Dishonored 2 or Infinite Warfare or whatever. Basically they paid £20 extra (or more) just to play the game a week or two early. Maybe some people think it’s worth it but I don’t.

It wouldn’t be so bad if this was a regular thing but it’s basically only at Christmas, and it’s easy to see how that undermines the industry’s busiest period. There are two solutions here I think: either stop Black Friday or make all games £33 for the off. I think an across the board price cut would be hugely beneficial for the industry as a whole, but I bet it never happens. I’d like to hear from a publisher about why exactly though, considering how many extra sales they’re going to get at that price this week.TurboKaye

Quiet please

I’d like to expend on Cable’s letter from the Thursday evening Inbox about the noise the PS4 Pro makes.

In his (her?) well chosen words ‘It does make a hell of a lot of noise though, and is basically useless for watching movies on because of the racket it makes’. But I feel this really isn’t conveying it as the quite
serious issue it actually is.

My 2013 launch PlayStation 4 never made a sound but the Pro honestly sounds like a rocket taking off and I’ve had to resort to turning the volume up on my TV to almost double that of its usual level just to drown out the din.

How can Sony have let this thing get released with such an immersion-killer as this? It makes me wonder how hot it’s running as it starts as soon as I load up any game.

Has GC heard any rumblings (other than a nation of PS4 Pros trying to achieve orbit) about Sony addressing this?Phil Spearpoint

GC: No, and we’d be surprised if they even admitted it. For the record, ours isn’t that loud but it does get very hot at the back.

The next step

Like everyone else I’ve been very impressed by the PlayStation VR, which, quite unlike the PS4 Pro, does that rare thing for a bit of hardware and is a lot better than I expected. I was reading today in fact that it’s already sold more than the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive combined, and well deserved too.

It’s hard to say what exactly Sony expected from it, but I’m sure it must be doing better than expected. I bet they were even surprised by the critical response, because they didn’t really seem prepared for so many high scoring games (even if most of them had nothing to do with them).

The obvious thing for them to do is expand on it and greenlight a bunch more games, but I wonder if we’re also begin to see more games with VR support. Not side games but the actual option to play the game, or parts of it, with VR. I’m much more interested in that than I ever was Kinect or anything like that and I hope it’s the next step.

I imagine the next, next step will be Microsoft announcing their own headset, as that’s blatantly what the Scorpio is for. Good, I look forward to seeing that too.Grimm

Personal agenda

I too have decided to get Pokémon Sun and Moon, after having not played any of the games (not even Pokémon GO) since the Game Boy Advance days. It feels like coming home in a way, as I’d forgotten how addictive it is and how big these games can be. Even though I can see it is more linear than they used to be I love how you can set your own agenda and decide to go off training, catching, or just following the story.

All open world games allow you freedom, but usually there doesn’t seem like much you can actually do but get in random fights. With Pokémon though you’re making your own list of goals and working out what you need to do to get there. It must be great for kids, especially given all the variables of battles and levelling up. Really good stuff, and in its way it’s got me interested in Switch as well. As I haven’t got a Wii U or played any other Nintendo games in a long while.Dystan

Perfect storm

I realise this is kicking a man when he’s down but apparently the collector’s editions for No Man’s Sky still hasn’t been sent out to those who bought it. Now before you laugh, remember that before release the game was tipped at being a classic. And the set comes with a model of a spaceship that actually looks really cool.

I don’t even know if this is Hello Games’ fault but the whole game was obviously doomed and all that stuff about a tiny team working on such an ambitious game has obviously not worked out. There’s a reason teams are usually bigger, and it’s because you need that amount of people to get everything done. But not only is the game not good enough but there’s been no communication and apparently not even a collector’s edition. What a mess, I can’t think of anything that could’ve gone wrong that didn’t.Austin

Bah hambug

Am I the only one who thinks this whole Black Friday rush to buy more stuff is slightly obscene? Even if I wasn’t at work all day on Friday I’d never be one of those frantic shoppers elbowing each other in the face for a cheap telly.

As for bargain games, who hasn’t already got loads of games to play?

I guess that if a hard up GC reader sees a game they really want going cheap then good for them.

Personally, I think we should ignore this day of rampant consumerism and have Give Something Away Friday or a Be Really Nice to Somebody Friday.

Didn’t Black Friday originate in the States? In my opinion it’s a silly idea the Americans can have back. They can also take back the words dude and awesome. It should also be illegal for British men to call each other buddy.msv858 (Twitter)

Inbox also-rans

Wow great Black Friday prices, but I can’t be the only gamer who feels like they’ve been kicked in the face only just buying some of these games new just weeks ago.Andrew (small123 – PSN ID)

I was hoping to get a 4K TV in the Black Friday sales, but reading about all the problems with lag I don’t think I’ll bother. I’m not spending all that on a TV that’s actually worse for gaming, even if it has got a better resolution.Tolly

This week’s Hot Topic

Despite the decline of the modern day military shooter, this year has still seen a huge number of first person shooters released, from regulars such as Call Of Duty and Battlefield, to brand new games such as Overwatch and Battleborn, and sequels and reboots including Titanfall 2 and Doom.

Our question for this weekend’s Inbox is simple: which do you think has been the best?

Which have you enjoyed the most, and which were you looking forward to but found disappointing? Which did you not even bother with, and why? What do you think of the current state of the genre and what would you want to see more or less of in the future?